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Dragon of Death - F(12), Brd(1), RDD(10), WM(7)
Fighter 12 / Bard 1 / Weapon Master 7 / Red Dragon Disciple 10 by Neonin 00:46, 27 June 2008 (UTC) Description The Dragon of Death is a dual-wielding character concentrating on two scythes. Why? Because dual-wielding scythes is cool! ---- ---- The main premise behind this build is extremely hard-hitting criticals. The combination of a scythe, improved critical, and the Weapon Master ability Increased Multiplier mean that a scythe will hit a critical on 17-20 and do x5 damage. This, of course, falls down when fighting things that are immune to critical hits, but the weapon will still do pretty decent damage due to the high strength you should have. This build probably doesn't even hold a candle to most of the ones on this site in PvP (the few tests I've done I had my butt handed to me on a platter due to being unable to hit the buggers) but is aimed at those who would like to play some form of huge weapon-wielding monster and not use DEX-based builds. As I mention briefly in the Variant section below you can take these classes in different orders. The reason I took them in the order listed in the progression table is because I like having a character with four classes by level 20 (don't ask me why). WARNING - Do not try dual-wielding scythes until you get Monkey Grip! You could take it earlier than in the progression table if you wanted to, but the reason I left Monkey Grip till level 12 is because dual-wielding large weapons gives you a -6 to all attacks (-2 for Monkey Grip, -4 for non-light off-hand weapon) and I felt dual-wielding before this mark would give too low an attack bonus. Advantages: * Base Attack Bonus of 26, meaning full 6 main-hand attacks. * Scarily high criticals. * Earth Genasi, for those sick of playing Air Genasi, Drow, Duergar, or Deep Gnomes. * Decent AC and saving throws at level 30 with magic equipment and 30 ranks of Tumble and Spellcraft. * No XP penalty throughout campaign. Disadvantages: * Relatively low AC compared to other builds on this site (Kaze no Kama, I'm looking at you!) * Main advantage of high criticals lost on things immune to critical hits. * No Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting, though those last 3 attacks tend not to hit anyway. * No social skills. * No natural spell resistance unless Drow is used. Character Creation Why these classes/races? * Earth Genasi receive +2 STR and +2 CON, meaning we can get a nice stat spread. This is important as we're going to need 19 DEX for Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, 14 INT for the skill points, and as high a STR as possible for attack bonuses and damage. Earth Genasi also have Fighter as their favoured class, so no multi-class penalties apply. Air Genasi could also be used if you prefer those, or Drow if you don’t mind the XP penalty after level 3. * 12 Fighter for bonus feats to make the build work plus lots of BAB. * 1 Bard to fulfill prerequisites for Dragon Disciple, plus 1st level Inspire Courage, plus Tumble and Spellcraft as class skills. * 7 Weapon Master for Ki Damage, Ki Critical, Increased Multiplier, and Superior Weapon Focus, and more BAB. * 10 Dragon Disciple for +8 STR and +2 CON (as well as +2 INT and +2 CHA, but they don't really matter). Variants The build lends itself to a small amount of customization in the form of changing which weapon you focus on, for example: * Greataxe: 1-12 base damage, 17-20/x4 critical. * Greatsword: 2-12 base damage, 15-20/x3 critical. * Falchion: 2-8 base damage, 13-20/x3 critical. You could also use a pair of medium-size weapons instead, dropping Monkey Grip out of the feat list in favour of getting Improved Two-Weapon Fighting earlier with the added advantage of an extra +2 to your attacks (no Monkey Grip penalty): * Longsword: 1-8 base damage, 15-20/x3 critical. * Battleaxe: 1-8 base damage, 17-20/x4 critical. * Scimitar: 1-6 base damage, 13-20/x3 critical. If you want to do hideous criticals, you could drop some of the feats after getting Improved Critical and go the Power Attack->Cleave->Great Cleave->Overwhelming Critical route. With the scythe, this would add a whopping 4d6 to your critical damage. You can also save getting Red Dragon Disciple until you reach level 21. Getting the last four levels of Fighter before taking it lets you get Epic Weapon Specialization in place of Epic Prowess, losing you +1 on attacks but gaining you +2 on damage, which, with our huge criticals, is an extra 10 damage. Another interesting variant is taking Human and getting 8 levels of Red Dragon Disciple from level 6 as you can reach the prerequisites when you hit level 5. This allows you to take a starting INT of 12 and gives you an extra feat. Able Learner means you will not only have 30 ranks of Tumble and Spellcraft, but 33 more in two skills of your choice such as Diplomacy and Use Magic Device. The disadvantages are not getting your hard-hitting criticals until Epic levels, a slower BAB progression which is somewhat offset by the earlier strength gains, and an ending STR of 42 instead of 44. Level 30 Stuff Want to see how the character ends up at level 30? Here's the numbers! Without any magic items at all, you have the following: Main Hand Attacks - +38/33/28/23/18/13 Main Hand Damage - 2-8 +16 Off-Hand Attacks - +38/32/28 Off-Hand Damage - 2-8 +10 If you add in a +9 Strength item, Inspire Courage, and two +8 Scythes you get: Main Hand Attacks - +52/47/42/37/32/27 Main Hand Damage - 2-8 +21 +8 +1 Off-Hand Attacks - +52/47/42 Off-Hand Damage - 2-8 +12 +8 +1 With just those three items you've just made your damage: Main Hand Max - 38, 190 critical Main Hand Min - 32, 160 critical Off Hand Max - 29, 145 critical Off Hand Min - 23, 115 critical Feel free to add haste, 3x5d6 elemental damage, or if you're feeling evil you could try whacking on Vorpal. With all the gear I put on mine using the Battle of the Builds module I ended up with AC 52, saves 37/38/32, HP 466, and the sight of a character dual-wielding two fracking scythes! Oh, and all this is completely unbuffed if you ignore the Inspire Courage thing. I've only just started playing it in the campaign, so I'll update when I finish to let you know how it goes. Progression Notes * Lore is a dump skill after reaching 8 ranks. Feel free to distribute those skill points elsewhere. category:Character builds category:Melee Character builds category:Dual Wielding Character builds